Are you burdened?

If I were to give you a never-ending supply of a magical elixir and tell you it would instantly cure cancer in children, what would you do?  Given this gift, most would immediately find the nearest hospital and start giving out generous spoon full’s.  After that ward was cured there would be an insatiable fire to find another hospital and group of children to save.

Now let’s throw a curve ball into the mix.  This elixir looks like sewage, smells horrible and appears to have chunks of rotten food floating in it.  But given its appearance and smell, there is a pleasant surprise; its taste is amazingly sweet.  Now remember, you have absolute certainty that this will work with a 100% cure rate, but your not a Doctor and have no medical training.  Do you think you could convince a dying child to take a spoon full?  Not only could you, given a little time I am confident you would become very good at it.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the comparison I’m making here.  

Why is it that the thought of curing cancer in children stirs up noble ideas and confidence but sharing our Christian faith often brings those of doubt or inadequacy and for many - fear?   I believe it starts with a lack of practice.  Sharing our faith is like any other endeavor we take on in that you won’t become adept at it without first making an attempt.  Like Nike say’s “Just do it”.  You can’t always be successful but truth be told, there are no failures in sharing faith, only seeds to be planted.  We have been given a gift infinitely greater than a fictional potion to cure cancer.  The gift we have been given is eternal life and the power to extend it to others, as well as the obligation to do so.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

Look at this passage closely, it’s not a request it’s a command and Matthew felt it so powerful he ended his gospel with it and the very words of Christ including, “I am with you always” letting us know that were aren’t alone when talk to others about Him.  Given what we know about Jesus, Him being God and all, I don’t see Him putting forth this command unless we all had the ability to be somewhat effective at doing so.  You don’t need to be a Biblical Scholar or have 1000 scriptures committed to memory to talk about why your life is different now that you have asked Christ into it. 

The great 19th century Author and Evangelist, Charles Spurgeon had the following to say about sharing the Gospel:

“The way to do a great deal, is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all, is to be continually resolving that you will do everything.”

Christ had a tremendous burden for us, so much so that he made the ultimate sacrifice out of a perfect love only He was capable of.  The burden given us, to simply tell others about Him, is pretty light in comparison.  Stop thinking about it and why you can’t and take a small step.  Someone you know wants to hear from you about this, you might even know who it is.  If you don’t, ask God to reveal them to you and tell them about what Jesus has done for you.  I can’t make many 100% guarantees outside of this; it will make your day and possibly someone’s life…

Grace and peace

Jeff

Today is yours!

I receive a couple of daily devotions everyday by email and going through my inbox, I spotted one with the heading, “Make today count”.

The first thing I noticed when I opened it was the scripture to accompany the message:

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Psalm 118:24

This hits home to me because my Pastor back in my youth opened every service he did with this verse. I remember the first time that I realized it was a scripture many years later it was the first bible verse I had ever committed to memory even though it happened by repetition and unknown to me. I can’t begin to guess how many times I heard this over those years and never gave it much thought at the time. I guess you could say that I had become so accustomed to hearing the words that I really didn’t hear them at all. What a tragedy in light of the truth they hold and I pray I never become desensitized to the Word of God again.

God blesses us in so many ways. Ways we know about and the behind the scenes work that we aren’t aware of as well. I feel that if we were to somehow pull back the curtain and take a peek into the spiritual realms and see everything God does for us, we would be not only amazed but terrified when we saw the battle the Lord wages for us each day. And in Psalm 118, He tells us today is a gift.

What about yesterday? Well yesterday is over. Maybe your day was great, filled with success and the sun shined on you from the moment you woke, until the time you went to bed. How wonderful for you. But guess what, yesterday is over.

Or maybe yesterday was the worse day of your life, and like so many of our brothers and sisters out there, yesterday was the day you got laid off or you got that letter in the mail, telling you that the bank will be foreclosing on your home. If that’s you my heart goes out to you and I say a prayer everyday for you and the many others you now keep company with. But guess what, yesterday is over.

And tomorrow? While it is important to consider tomorrow and make the appropriate plans to care for ourselves and protect our future, the future is really unknown. And as the current state of our economy shows, you can’t count on tomorrow. Some people spend so much time talking about tomorrow; they are of no good today. All you hear is “what they will do when______ happens”, “when _____ happens, I’ll be just fine” or, “I’m just waiting on_____, and then I’ll______”. Can you really count on tomorrow?

But today? Today is truly yours and it can be as special or uneventful as you choose. God gave us this day and it is a gift from Him and I for one want to make sure it’s a good one. So what will I do and how will I accomplish that? To start with I’ll open the Bible and pray, asking God to reveal Himself and his will for me today, and then commit myself to listen and obey when He does. Make a daily habit of this, then you got yourself a lifestyle worthy of the gift you have been given.

Make today count. It IS the day the Lord made, rejoice and be glad in it!

Grace and peace

Jeff

What's your approach to work? By Jack Graham

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men….You are serving the Lord Christ.     Colossians 3:23-24

Not long ago, I had the chance to watch my little grandson playing in a swimming pool. Over and over again, he jumped in the pool with such enthusiasm and abandon.

That experience got me thinking that there’s really no such thing as a half leap into a swimming pool. Once you’ve started to jump, you have to go the whole way!

That’s the spirit of the apostle Paul’s words in today’s verse. He’s telling you and me, “Don’t you even dare make less than a full leap into your work! Give it your whole heart. Approach your work with intention and passion. Pour your life into it. And do it to God’s glory.”

This is God’s plan to bring meaning and purpose to your daily life, including your life in the workplace. But Satan doesn’t want you happy at work. He’ll distract you and draw your eyes off of Jesus.

So my challenge to you today… whether you work in the home or outside the home… is to heed the words of Paul. Ask Christ Jesus to empower you to serve him no matter what your task may be. And like a child, leap into whatever you do with both feet!

LIKE A CHILD, LEAP INTO WHATEVER YOU DO WITH BOTH FEET!

When Jack Graham get's it right. he get's it right!  What an amazing thought, and work ethic to adopt for all of us.

Heavenly GPS

Unless I’m missing something, God doesn’t offer his services a la carte.

I’m amazed by the number of people, claiming to be Christians that are under the impression that they can pick and choose the parts they like in the Bible paying no attention to those they don’t care for, or more than likely don’t fit their lifestyle. They probably stand out so much to me as I use to be one of them.

A popular TV Preacher even states that if you just pray hard enough, think the right thing and act the right way you won’t experience problems in life. If you aren’t as prosperous as you would like to be, you must not be praying enough. Just pray harder and “You can have your best life now”. And sin, well that isn’t spoken of; the focus should only on the positive aspects of God, right?

If we read the Bible, we know this just isn’t the case.  The Christian life isn’t easy and we will absolutely encounter hardships in this world. As my old Pastor Jack Graham said frequently “Being a Christian does not exempt you from the struggles of life”. But as is always the case, God has us covered. We have His living breathing Word to direct us through the trials we will face.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil”

Matthew 4:1

Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus entered the desert to be tempted by the devil. During this time of 40 days and 40 nights, our Savior fasted, surviving solely on the Word of God, answering every enticement offered by Satan quoting what God’s Word said about each particular temptation. The devil was defeated using the perfect truth found only in scripture and we have that weapon to swing as well.

It’s interesting that the desert is a quiet place in light of the fact that its name is derived from the Hebrew word “dahbaar” which translated means “to speak”. And we will all find ourselves in the "desert" at different points in our lives where we are tempted and need to look for for answers.  Don't think for a minute that you will not be spoken to while you are in the desert so we must be certain of whom we listen to and more importantly, how we answer. The devil has a loud voice but if we have the Word of God written in our hearts, His still small voice will always be heard.

As a Child of God, we know He is in control of everything that happens in our lives, good and what we perceive as bad. Christ gave us the perfect example to follow in those times when He chooses to led us into the desert, finding what we are made of and of what use we can be to Him. Our deserts will be times of weakness and turmoil where we feel helpless and alone. Immersing ourselves into the Word daily and knowing scripture is how we activate our “Heavenly GPS” and see our way to the other side.

 

Grace and peace,

Jeff

Slaying Giants

I absolutely love the great stories found in the Old Testament. I try and make the O.T. part of my personal bible study often and find great truths there every time. This morning I read about David and Goliath again. What a great story that truly epitomizes good versus evil and God receiving all the glory. 

While reading 1 Samuel 17:1-53 again, I was reminded that this was much more than just a fight between Israel and the Philistines; it was a defense of the Lords supremacy against those that would doubt him. David showed courage that could only come from absolute faith in God and as he stated, “the Lord will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine”. 



Everyday we are put into situations that we feel may be insurmountable. We ask ourselves how in the world am I going to able to do this? Much like the Israelites we see ourselves facing what appears to be a giant while we hold only a slingshot. As we talked about several weeks ago we usually take these problems everywhere else except to the Lord in prayer and then only as a last resort. 

The truth is that faith will see us through anything the world has to throw at us if only we use it. God wants the very best for each of us and he wants us to come to him first for everything in our life. 

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”. 

John 14:13-14 

Follow the example of young David, be faithful in your walk with Christ, stand up for God trusting him fully taking everything in life to him first. We should all be so bold to know that the Lord will also deliver us in our time of need. Make faith the rock you put in your slingshot and there is no giant you can’t defeat!

Be blessed today,

Jeff